1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to maintenance of internal combustion engines and more specifically to a combined oil drain and fill apparatus which allows a single tube to be inserted into an oil fill access only once to drain and fill an engine.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Currently, there is a device on the market which allows oil in an engine to be drained therefrom by placing a tube in an oil fill opening or down a dip stick tube. There is also a device on the market which is inserted into the oil fill opening and fills the engine with oil under pressure to decrease the fill time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,247 to Knorr, U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,445 to Bedi et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,621 to Trevino disclose the combined draining and filling of oil from an engine.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for an a combined oil drain and fill apparatus which allows a single tube to be inserted in to an oil fill access only once to drain and fill an engine.
The present invention provides a combined oil drain and fill apparatus which allows an oil change to be completed in less time. The combined oil drain and fill apparatus includes an oil supply container, oil waste container, supply pump, waste pump, supply check valve, waste check valve, Y-connector, and oil hose. The supply and waste pumps may be either manual or automatic type. One end of the supply pump is connected to the oil supply container and the other end is connected to one end of the supply check valve through a supply hose. One end of the waste pump is connected to the waste container and the other end is connected to one end of the waste check valve through a waste hose. The other ends of the supply and waste check valves are attached to the inlets of the Y-connector. The outlet of the Y-connector is connected to the oil hose.
The oil hose is inserted into an oil fill access of an engine. The oil fill access must allow the oil hose to be inserted to a bottom of the crank case of an engine. After the oil hose is inserted to the bottom of the crank case, the waste pump is activated. The waste pump draws used oil from the crank case and pushes thereof into the waste container through the waste check valve. The supply check valve prevents used oil from flowing into the supply container. After all the used oil has been pumped out of the crank case, the supply pump is activated. The supply pump draws fresh oil from the supply container and pushes thereof into the crank case through the supply check valve. The waste check valve prevents used oil from being accidentally pumped back into the crankcase. In a second embodiment of the combined oil drain and fill apparatus, the check valves are replaced with a supply shut-off valve and a waste shut-off valve. The shutoff valves must be manually turned on and off to remove used oil and supply fresh oil to the crank case.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a combined oil drain and fill apparatus which allows a tube to be inserted in to an oil fill access only once to drain and fill an engine.
Finally, it is another object of the present invention to provide a combined oil drain and fill apparatus which decreases the amount of time required to do an oil change on an engine.
These and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification.